Tuesday, April 07, 2015

Prichard Committee Exec Silberman Retiring

Stu
Silberman, executive director of the Prichard Committee for Academic
Excellence for the past four years and a longtime educator, will retire
Sept. 4 to spend time with his family in advance of an operation needed
to address a rare kidney disease.

Silberman, who previously
served as superintendent of the Daviess Co. and Fayette Co. school
systems, shared the word of his decision in emails and a post on the
Prichard Committee’s Facebook page Monday afternoon.

“It is with
mixed emotions that I write to let you know I will be retiring,
effective September 4, 2015. This comes after four years of service with
the Prichard Committee and 41 years in education serving students and
their families,” he said.

“As many of you know, I was diagnosed
with a rare kidney disease several months ago and will need a kidney
transplant sometime in the future. After much prayer and discussion with
my family, we agreed that it would be very important to spend time
together before a transplant is imminent. That is the sole reason for my
decision to retire,” said the recipient of KSBA’s F. L. Dupree
Outstanding Superintendent Award and the Superintendent of the Year
award from the Kentucky Association of School Superintendents.

“I
have been blessed to have had this opportunity to work side by side
with such great people. I know that, because of them – because of you,
the Prichard Committee is on very firm ground and will continue its
strong advocacy for progress,” Silberman said. “I have greatly enjoyed
my time with the committee and know the significant differences it
continues to make in the lives of the children. I have great confidence
that this will continue.”

According to Silberman, the Prichard
Committee board has appointed a selection committee to begin a search
for his successor, and it plans to begin interviews in the near future.

6 comments:

Anonymous
said...

As an educator, I survived the Silberman years. I shed no tear when this man left the school system. Anti-intellectual, populist, and egotistical, he was not what we needed. He threw teachers under the bus and his ineptitude almost cost Rosalind Hurley Richards her job. Thank god the Kentucky Supreme Court said Silberman was wrong. He did the same with Brenda Allen and Peggy Petrelli. His hires from michael Ernst to melody Parker were not intelligent choices.

I was baffled that he was chosen to replace Bob Sexton at Prichard.

He fooled a good many citizens. I am sorry he I'll, but I was most sorry when he took over the helm at FCPS. I hope one day to write a book about his tenure as superintendent.

And if Stu didn't do enough disservice to FCPS, he ushered in the ultimate conman, Tom Shelton. Lead us to slaughter like lambs. Sadly, we fell for it twice. Back to back debacles at the helm of FCPS. Here's to hoping we do better this time around. As for Stu, I wish you good health and a quiet retirement.

Stu convinced Fayette County parents that until he came, there was no equity and that teachers were hostile to teaching. Poof.With a magic wand he waved, the new slogan was " It's About Kids."

While subjecting teachers to cruel lashings by principals and new school directors, Central Office became bloated and it took on a life of its own. With almost no oversight or accountability, new hires including Kathy Dykes, Michael Ernst, and Melody Parker seemed free to do as they pleased.

If there ever was someone who knew how to manipulate public opinion, it was Stu. While nobody wants Stu to be ill, it is important that we remember his misdeeds. And I hope the board members will hear the message loud and clear,

I wonder what FCPS folks are going to do now that they apparently have won the "trifecta"? Who now will they be able to place the yoke of condemnation and blame when all students still continue to not achieve through the service of Kentucky's highest paid teaching force (other than JCPS)? I assume it will now be the children's parents' fault that the kids aren't learning.

The district is doomed to repeat the inequities that have plagued it for years because the system works its way back to status quo and will not let any real necessary change happen. All kids will not be successful unless meaningful changes are made. As soon as the last two superintendents started to make these changes, the system fought back and made the necessary changes impossible. Sad that a district with so many resources does not want to use them to help all kids succeed!

KSN&C

KSN&C

KSN&C is intended to be a place for well-reasoned civil discourse...not to suggest that we don’t appreciate the witty retort or pithy observation. Have at it. But we do not invite the anonymous flaming too often found in social media these days. This is a destination for folks to state your name and speak your piece.

It is important to note that, while the Moderator serves as Faculty Regent for Eastern Kentucky University, all comments offered by the Moderator on KSN&C are his own opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of the Board of Regents, the university administration, faculty, or any members of the university community.

On KSN&C, all authors are responsible for their own comments. See full disclaimer at the bottom of the page.

Why This Blog?

So far as we know, we only get one lifetime. So, when I "retired" in 2004, after 31-years in public education I wanted to do something different. I wanted to teach, write and become a student again. I have since spent a decade in higher ed.

I have listened to so many commentaries over the years about what should be done to improve Kentucky's schools - written largely by folks who have never tried to manage a classroom, run a school, or close an achievement gap. I came to believe that I might have something to offer.

I moved, in 1985, from suburban northern Kentucky to what was then the state’s flagship district - Fayette County. I have had a unique set of experiences to accompany my journey through KERA’s implementation. I have seen children grow to graduate and lead successful lives. I have seen them go to jail and I have seen them die. I have been amazed by brilliant teachers, dismayed by impassive bureaucrats, disappointed by politicians and uplifted by some of Kentucky’s finest school children. When I am not complaining about it, I will attest that public school administration is critically important work.

Democracy is run by those who show up. In our system of government every citizen has a voice, but only if they choose to use it.

This blog is totally independent; not supported or sponsored by any institution or political organization. I will make every effort to fully cite (or link to) my sources. Please address any concerns to the author.

On the campaign trail...with my wife Rita

An action shot: The Principal...as a much younger man.

Faculty Senate Chair

Serving as Mace Bearer during the Inauguration of Michael T. Benson as EKU's 12th president.

Teaching

EDF 203 in EKU's one-room schoolhouse.

Professin'

Lecturing on the history of Berea College to Berea faculty and staff, 2014.

Faculty Regent

One in a long series of meetings. 2016

KSN&C StatCounter

Disclaimer:

By accessing this website (http://theprincipal.blogspot.com) Kentucky School News and Commentary (hereafter KSN&C), a web browser (hereafter user) consents that she or he is familiar with, understands and absolutely accepts the following weblog disclaimer:

The views expressed by the authors and contributors on this website do not necessarily reflect the views of Kentucky School News and Commentary, those who link to this website, the author’s employers, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, other ancestors, blood-relatives, progeny, this website’s web host, moderator, designer, or any other organization in any way connected with this website.

While I presently serve as Chair of the Eastern Kentucky University Faculty Senate (August 2014-May 2016), none of the Moderator's comments are official statements attributable to EKU, its Faculty Senate or any of the institution's entities.

In all cases, comments are the personal views of the author. No individual contributor, author or commenter is paid for their opinion or beholden to a particular point of view. All contributors write in the English language and cannot be held responsible for unfortunate translations that may occur in other languages. KSN&C is not responsible for human errors involving grammar and punctuation.

Comments on this website are the sole responsibility of the author. The author assumes full responsibility, liability, and blame for any libel or litigation that may result from something written in or as a direct result of something written in a comment. The accuracy, completeness, veracity, honesty, exactitude, factuality and politeness of comments are not guaranteed. The content on the blog is not intended to malign any religious, ethnic group, club, organization, company or individual. Readers are advised to employ a healthy dose of rationality. Furthermore, information is always in transition. Web links change, and content published today may be out-of-date next week.

Readers are advised that some images used on the site are not the property of KSN&C but are reduced in size and used under fair-use. The same is true of certain copyrighted material. Any concerns should be addressed to the moderator. Due to the episodic nature of the blog, errors, when pointed out, may not be immediately corrected.

All trademarks, service marks, copyrights, registered names, mottos, logos, insignias and marks used or cited by this website are the property of their respective owners and this website in no way accepts any responsibility for an infringement on any of the above.

Despite any claims to the contrary, nothing on this website should be construed as professional advice. The information provided on this website is of a general, wide-ranging nature and cannot substitute for the advice of a licensed legal professional, physician, psychiatrist or member of the clergy. A competent authority with specialized knowledge operating within the Kentucky Department of Education, local public school district, church school, independent private school, home school, or in the journalistic, law enforcement or legal community is the only one who can address or comment on the specific circumstances covered in the news and commented upon herein. For personal advice, please contact your mother, father, BFF, local bar association, local bar tender, law society, medical board, county hospital, pastor, teacher, phone book, online directory, local emergency number in your jurisdiction, or Google to find a or obtain a referral to a competent professional.

This website has no control over the information you access via outbound link(s) in the post text, sidebar, header, footer or comment sections. This website does not endorse linked websites and cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information found by following said links or the correctness of any analysis found therein and should not be held responsible for it or the consequences of a user’s use of that information. In fact, we’re pretty sure we link to falsehoods perpetrated by others with some frequency. Be warned. Twistifications of supposed facts, biased reporting, and bad analysis is de rigueur for some of the sites we link.

This website may inadvertently link to content that is vacuous, obscene, venomous, frivolous, rotten, antagonistic, harsh, rancorous, acrimonious or repetitive. This website in no way condones, endorses or takes responsibility for such content. Please report anything really ugly to KSN&C’s Moderator.

This website publishes content regularly and said content is maintained in reference to the protections afforded it under local, state, martial, federal, international and school yard law. Publication of information found on this website may be in violation of the laws of the city, county, state, country or other jurisdiction from where you are viewing this website’s content and laws in your jurisdiction may not protect or allow the same kinds of speech or distribution. In the case that the laws of the jurisdiction where this website's content is maintained and those of yours conflict, this website does not encourage, condone, facilitate, recommend or protect the violation of any laws and cannot be responsible for any violations of such laws. We do condone lawful efforts to extend free speech protections to all parts of the world.

Because the World Wide Web is an integrated net of communication, discussion and litigation, this website encourages the distribution of its content. Cross, reciprocal or just plain friendly hyper-linking is consistent with this information sharing and this disclaimer should not be construed as a condemnation of any linking practices. That said, any reproduction of this website’s content must credit the website by name and Uniform Resource Locator (URL). Should you link to this domain or use, reproduce, republish, reiterate, imitate, or duplicate the information contained on this website, you alone are responsible for that action and should, under threat of litigation, credit this website by name and URL. In addition, any user who learns of information from this site, but traces back to our attributed sources in an effort to forego proper mention of KSN&C should seek therapy.

This website is not recommended for inmates, ingrates, illiterates, or anyone professing an irrational fear of CATS or any other mammal, or those who have a penchant for bullying or self- aggrandizement. Women who are pregnant or may become pregnant or are nursing are advised to consult their physician before reading this website. Eating before reading may result in indigestion. This website contains small pieces and is not recommended for children under the age of 4.